Rezonings Under Fire State Says Orange City May Be Violating State Law

March 16, 1986|By Ian Johnson of The Sentinel Staff

ORANGE CITY — City policy that allows newly annexed land to be rezoned without notifying residents may violate state law, state officials say.

The policy has come into the spotlight because 259 residents have petitioned the city to reverse two rezonings. The Feb. 11 rezonings are opposed by the residents, who are organized under the name of Concerned Citizens for Orange City. Group members say the rezonings are destroying the city's residential character. In addition, they object to not being notified of the action.

One rezoning changed two lots from urban single-family residential to multifamily and townhouse zoning. The other changed 20 lots from urban single- family residential to two-family residential.

If the petition is validated by Elections Supervisor Katherine Odham, city officials will have 30 days to reconsider their decision. If the council votes to keep the new zoning, a special election must be called within 45 days, according to the city charter.

But even if the residents are successful in overturning the two rezoning cases, they have raised the larger question of city policy toward newly annexed land. Over the past year, Orange City has annexed more than 750 acres of land. Later this month, the council is expected to consider annexing another 800 acres. In addition, the city council has annexed small parcels of land almost every month.

In all of the annexations, the city council has voted immediately to rezone the parcels, either to a zoning comparable to the county's or, in most cases, to a higher density.

When the rezonings were made, adjacent property owners were not notified, said city administrative aide Jim Kerr. This is because city policy treats zonings of newly annexed land differently from rezonings of land already in the city, he said.

This policy violates state statutes, said Bob Kessler, bureau chief of the Bureau of Local Residential Planning in the Department of Community Affairs in Tallahassee. Kessler said any zoning case, whether it involves newly annexed land or land that has been in the city for a long time, must be treated equally. Notices must be sent out to adjacent property owners, he said.

City officials said they did not know that they may be violating state laws. The city has rezoned new land without public notice for a long time, Kerr said.

''Perhaps we should have been doing that. I think maybe we should in the future,'' Kerr said.

The city also will be under more stringent requirements in 1987, when all municipalities' comprehensive land-use plans will be under state review. Comprehensive land-use plans already must be modified to accommodate newly annexed land, Kessler said. But next year, the plans will have to detail how cities will service these areas. Orange City currently is developing such a plan, Kerr said.

Until last year, any rezoning of newly annexed land had to be either compatible with its old county zoning or approved by the county. The Legislature, however, approved a bill that allows cities to annex land and rezone it as they see fit as long as they follow the rules.

Many of Orange City's rezonings have increased the density of the land, often from residential to commercial or business classifications. Critics of the city's annexation program say this has been done to lure landowners into the city at the expense of adjoining neighborhoods.

For example, Concerned Citizens for Orange City has opposed many of the rezonings on the grounds that the city's character should take precedence over attracting new residents. Margaret Huckaby, a member of the citizens' group, said most of the rezonings have been unopposed because without being notified by mail, residents don't know of the council's actions until after it occurs. Moreover, many of these residents live in the county, making it even more unlikely that they will know of Orange City meetings, Huckaby said.

''How many people read the legal notices? Without being notified by letter, as they're supposed to, people just won't know,'' Huckaby said.